A woman with an extensive rap sheet was arrested and taken to jail after, police said, she attempted to slash her way through the doors of Doral City Hall, all while yelling about corruption in the city.
According to Doral Police, 54-year-old Laura Cabrera showed up to City Hall with a large kitchen knife, this past Saturday.
“Her actions could easily result in her death, because our officers are trained to neutralize a threat immediately, and so, she’s lucky to be alive,” said Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez.
Witnesses said she was yelling angrily about corruption.
Police were initially called by the Doral Cultural Arts Center with a report about “an unknown individual throwing rocks toward the building,” then marching into the building and “continuing to yell about corruption in the city of Doral.”
But before she stormed the Cultural Arts Center, she was seen on surveillance video at City Hall “brandishing a knife, approached the doors and started actively stabbing the glass with this knife,” according to the arrest report.
“And [she] started stabbing the glass with this knife,” said Lopez.
The suspect’s attempt at entering the halls of power left the glass and door frame with scratches, according to police.
A short time later, officers would appear at Cabrera’s home to make the arrest.
Investigators said she “spontaneously stated that she was hearing voices in her head, that they were after her and blamed [Doral] Mayor Christi Fraga for her problems.”
According to the arrest report, at one point Cabrera slammed the handcuffs against her head.
She was checked out at a local hospital before being booked into jail.
“We were lucky to apprehend this individual. This individual has an extensive criminal past,” said Lopez. “Obviously safety and security is something we take very serious.”
Lopez said he recently implemented a new security detail at City Hall to protect city leaders and residents from threats like these.
“We will take any necessary step to safeguard anyone — not only an elected official, but any person that enters our city will receive that same treatment,” he said.
Lopez added that Cabrera is lucky she pulled her stunt on a weekend, when the building was closed.
“Luckily for her, she was able to live because she picked a Saturday,” he said.
Cabrera remains behind bars and faces multiple charges, including criminal mischief and throwing a deadly missile.